The legendary field hockey coach of Emmaus High School, Sue Butz-Stavin, will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame by the National Federation of State High Schools Association during ceremonies on Saturday, July 1, in Seattle.

She becomes just the second Lehigh Valley inductee into the organization’s 40-year history of selecting athletes, coaches, officials and others who have made extraordinary and significant contributions to their fields. The other is East Stroudsburg University graduate, the late Mario Donnangelo, a nationally known basketball and soccer official who lived in Fountain Hill and was principal of Salisbury High School. Butz-Stavin is one of 12 inductees into the Hall of Fame this year.

Butz-Stavin is just the eighth Pennsylvanian who will be accorded the Hall of Fame honor, including the late world-class golfer Arnold Palmer and football coaching legend, the late Joe Diminick, who piloted the Mount Carmel football team into a perennial coal region powerhouse for many years.

Butz-Stavin’s 47-year record as the Green Hornets’ coach is filled with otherworldly statistics. The team finished the 2022 season with a 25-1 record (19-0 in winning its 39th East Penn Conference championship and its 34th consecutive District 11 championship, its 37th overall), but the team lost a heartbreaking 2-1 state semifinal game to Wilson of West Lawn in the final four seconds. The loss ended the team’s incredible 69-game winning streak.

Her teams have made 37 appearances in the PIAA state playoffs, and have won 14 championships.

Her overall record is 1,041-83-35. Her teams’ record since 2015 is a jaw-dropping 203-4 (98 percent). Her teams have had more wins nationally than any other field hockey coach in history. The second-place coach has 839 wins.

Most schools consider field hockey a secondary sport behind ones like football, baseball, basketball and wrestling, but when a high school is nationally ranked year after year, this district of 2,550 gets a lot of attention, as it should.

Emmaus High School Assistant Athletic Director Matt Spengler flat out called it the high school’s “flagship program.”

Playing for an elite program such as the one at Emmaus requires not only skill and competence, but also a willingness to put in the time, perseverance and dedication to elevate the competitor’s game to an extraordinarily high level.

Butz-Stavin has gotten significant other national attention. She has been National High School Coach of the Year and Lehigh Valley Coach of the Year. She is also among the inductees into the first class of the District 11 Sports Hall of Fame.

The coach credits team members, her staff and the constant support she receives from the school community as important factors in this program’s success story. She said she is grateful that Emmaus High Athletic Director Becky George nominated her, and that the nomination picked up the support of school officials and local and state sports organizations.

Her coaching strategy for success is basic: Have passion for what you do, commit totally to excellence, establish goals to improve constantly and stay focused on the prize.

“Nothing about her surprises me,’’ Spengler said of Butz-Stavin’s success. “It’s how she prepares, how she leads her life and how she stays true to her principles.’’

Butz-Stavin and her husband, who is affectionately known as ``Mr. Bob” to members of the high school’s athletic department, will arrive in Seattle on Friday and enjoy a whirlwind of activities on Saturday, including the induction ceremony.

As the “winningest field hockey coach in America,’’ her success story is chronicled in the book of the same name by Heidi Bright Butler.

After her teams won their 1,000th game in 2021, the Butz-Stavin story was highlighted in a personality profile piece on the NBC Today show by commentator Harry Smith and also on CNN.

Once graduated, some of her players make their mark on elite college programs. Two of this year’s graduates will be playing for Division 1 powerhouses Michigan (ranked #5 in 2022) and Iowa (ranked #10), and a returning senior is headed to North Carolina (ranked #1) after next year’s graduation. Last fall, two University of North Carolina seniors, Madison Orobono and Meredith Sholder, both Emmaus grads, were defensive standouts in the Tar Heels’ 2-1 win over defending champion Northwestern in the NCAA Division I championship game.

Butz-Stavin, 70, is preparing for her 48th season this fall.